Masters are Wiltshire Champions

Event: Wiltshire Masters Championships 2007 – Rd 3

Venue: Five Rivers Leisure Centre, Salisbury

Date: Saturday, 6th October 2007

Swindon Dolphin secured the 2007 Wiltshire Masters Championship, winning the ‘Top Team’ prize with 27 points to spare over second place Salisbury and 198 points ahead of local rivals, Swindon Area Masters, who finished in third place.

The third and final round of the competition was held at the Five Rivers Leisure Centre in Salisbury last Saturday night and saw Dolphin bring home a total of 34 gold, 26 silver and 14 bronze medals in an exciting contest involving 13 teams from across the county.

Dolphin’s John Drake won the men’s under 40’s championship and Brian Davis only missed out on the over 40’s title by a single point.

No fewer than 15 county masters’ records tumbled on the night with Dolphin claiming 9 of them. Leading the way amongst the record breakers was Brian Davis in the 70-74 year age group in the 100m individual medley, 50m breaststroke & 25m butterfly, and Chris Lock (60-64years) in the 25m backstroke.

Head Coach, Andi Manley established new county records in the 30-34 year age group for the 100m individual medley & 50m freestyle, while Jon Audis (25-29 years), John Drake (30-34 years) and Sarah Lock (35-39 years) also set new county individual best times.

Head Cup Winners: Martin Hayward, Jose Adam, Sarah Lock & Andi Manley

One of the highlights of the evening was the prestigious Head Cup, mixed relay event. In this 4 x I length freestyle race, the Swindon Dolphin B quartet of Andi Manley (25-34 yrs), Sarah Lock (35-44 yrs), Martin Hayward (45-54 yrs) & Jose Adam (55 yrs+) took the trophy in a thrilling finish, ahead of the Dolphin A foursome made up of Chris Lock, Helen Hanks, Sarah Kelly and Gary Southern.

Afterwards a delighted Dolphin Masters’ Secretary, Dean Fouracre, said “though mindful of the strength of the Salisbury team, especially in their home pool, we were quite confident going into the final round of the competition having overturned a 70 point deficit in the second round in June. Our Masters team continues to go from strength to strength and I would like to thank all the swimmers for taking part”.